Apparatus for treating oil



G. EGLOFF ET AL APPARATUS FOR TREATING OIL June 9, 1925.

Filed March 25 1921 5 mg A gg N A a w w W V B/w HM FIE m 7M r w 2 2 Q 7 #fl 7 3 l. Sill 7 km \\WERvAN \N J Patented J une' 9, 1925.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

GUSTAV EGLOFF AND HARRY I. BENNEB, F INDEPENDENCE, KANSAS, ASSIGNOBS '10 UNIVERSAL OIL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION'OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

' APPARATUS m TREATING OIL.

Application flled March as, 1921. Serial No. 454,848.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, GUs'rAv EoLorr and HARRY P. BENNER, both citizens of ,the

United States, and residing in the town of 6 Independence, county of -Montgomery, and

State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for 'lreating Oil, of which the following is a specification.

1 This invention relates to improven'ients in anapparatus for treating hydrocarbon oils and refers more particularly to that type of construction in which the oil is fed through aheating coil, thence delivered to an expansion chamber where vaporization takes place, the vapors drawn oil' and subjec-tedv to. suitable condensing action and the heavier portions thereof returned to the heating coil for further treatment.

In the operation of a cracking apparatus of this type, itis necessa to periodically shut the apparatus down?) order to do this, it is necessary tocool the entire system, which is accomplished frequently by circulating the raw cold oil through the entire apparatus. This takes time and also results in the oil being sent 2 a through a considerable part of the apparatus which is unnecessary. After that, it is 3 sometimes necessaly to clean the gases out of parts of the system by steam or otherwise and more particularly out of the expansion chamber where vaporization takes place and 'the .uncondensable gas has been liberated.

' Tii-ne,-in the-operation of cracking plants,

particularly where there are a large number of stills, is a matter of very considerable importance from a commercial standpoint.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for quickly cooling down the heating coils whereby they may be examined and cleaned of carbon and likewise the expansion chamber.

The apparatus in which this is accom- :plished is shown in the accompanying drawing in which the single figure is a view,

partly in side elevation, and partly in vertical section, of our im rovel apparatus.

Referrin in detai to the drawing, 1 designates t e -furnace in which is mounted the heating coil 2 which may take the form of a continuous coil of say, 4" pipe; Theinlet side of the coil is connected by feed pump 3 to the charging. pump 4 connected r cleaning. In I by the line 4 to the storage tank 18 The 5 discharge side of the coil is connected by the ing up into a horizontally disposed dephlegmator 9 having the alternately disposed baf fles 10. Vapor pipes 11 having throttle valve- 12 are provided for conducting. .the vapors out of the dephlegnmtor to condenser coil 05 13. Condenser coil 13 is connected byline 14 in ving throttle valve 14 to the top of re-. ceiver 15. This receiver 15 is provided with suitable pressure gauge and liquid level gauge as shown, and with gas outlet ipe 15' having throttle valve as shown and distillate drawofi' pipe 15" having a suitable throttle valve as shown. The reflux condensate is returned from the dephlegmator to the heating coil by means of the pipe 16 having throttle valve 17. The discharge or transfer line 6 is provided with a branch 19 having throttle valve 20 leading back to the upper end of the receptacle 18. A throttle valve 21 is interposed in the line 4' and throttle valve 22 is provided in the line 3. Steam may be introduced to the vapor or expansion chamber through the pipe 23 controlled by throttle valve 24 and may be drawn off through the pipe 26 having throttle valve 25. 8

The apparatus may be operated asfol lows: Oil may be introduced throu h the fed line 3 into the heating .coil 2 an heated to a temperature of say, 800 degrees F. in the transfer line and delivered in substantially liquid phase to the expansion chamber where vaporization takes place. In this case, the valves 5 and 8' are open Valves 20 and 24 are closed. The vapors pass out of the pipe 8 intothe dephlegmator 96 9 where the heavier portions are condensed and returned as reflux condensate through the line 16 to the heating coil 2. The un-. condensed vapors pass out of the pi 11 through the condenser and thence to t e. re- 100 ceiver. A pressure of about 140 pounds may be maintained on the entire system, as for example, in the treatment of a mid-continent fuel oil.

After the system has been run for a more or less extended period of time,\carbon is bound to accumulate in the vapor chamber and thereis likely to be a tendency for some little carbon to be recipitated in the heating coil. Before 0 caning out the heating coil it is necessary to cool down the system and this generally takes a considerable period of time, which time, of course, is lost as far as use of the apparatus is concerned. However, we have devised a very simple and effective method and means of accomplishing this. To this end We close the valve 5 and open the valve 20 and circulate the cool oil through the closed circuit formed by the tank 18, coil 2 and pipes 4' and 19. This forms a relatively short circulation but is nevertheless very effective in cooling the system. At the same time, the valve 8' may be closed and steam injected through the pipe 23 under sufficient pressure to clean out the gases and cool down the expansion chamber.

As another novel feature of the invention, we provide means for preventing the carbon which is precipitated in the expansion chamber from piling up around the drawofi' line and thus retarding the discharge of the residuum. This is accomplished by means of a segmental baflle plate 27 which is mounted in the expansion chamber near the drawofi' 26 and is segmental in form so as to fit closely around the lower side Walls of the drum and may be .of the height shown 30 in the drawing.

We claim as our invention:

1. In anapparatus for cracking oil, the combination with a heating coil, of an expansion chamber connected thereto, a line 5 connecting the 'coil and chamber, a valve interposed in said line, an oil supply receptacle, a line connecting the heating coil and said receptacle and a. pump interposed in said line and an auxiliary cleaning line con- 4d necting the discharge side of the heating coil and said receptacle and a valve interposed in said latter line whereby it may be cut either in or out of the system.

2. In an apparatus for cracking oil, the combination with it heating coil disposed within a furnace, of an expansion chamber in communication with said coil receiving heated oil therefrom, a receptacle adapted to contain a supply of cool oiland valve control connections between said coil and said expansion chamber and receptacle whereby the passage of oil to the expansion chamber may be discontinued and a local 1 circulation ot'oil through the coil and receptacle effected to cool the heating coil.

GUSTAV EGLOFF. HARRY P. BENNER. 

